


Take Me Home

by CandieBox



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Cooking, Domestic Shenanigans, F/F, F/M, Female Reader, Friendship, Gonna date all cassettes, I love them all, Kissing, Other, Robot blood, Stealing, cursing, customer service job, hopefully soundwave too, little bit of drinking, tags to add, twins being mean, you garden to forget your problems, you live in a small house
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2020-10-05 09:36:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 21,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20486744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CandieBox/pseuds/CandieBox
Summary: You live outside of the city to avoid all the ruckus but what happens when the ruckus crash lands in your flower bed and eventually all his "siblings" find out about his new hangout? Guess they might as well crash there too.





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Romantic Mixtape Side A](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9928325) by [HenriettaDarlington](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HenriettaDarlington/pseuds/HenriettaDarlington). 

> The only proofreading this got was me so if you see something wacky tell me!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You live outside of the city to avoid all the ruckus but what happens when the ruckus crash lands in your flower bed and eventually all his "siblings" find out about his new hangout? Guess they might as well crash there too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Romantic Mixtape Side A by HenriettaDarlington.  
The only proofreading this got was me so if you see something wacky tell me!

Your friends had said you were crazy when you bought that small fixer-upper cabin. One big room that made up the kitchen and living room. Two bedrooms separated by a small hall with the closet and bathroom. 

At first it seemed like a good idea because it would give you something to do with your free time. You might actually be crazy though because it's been a few years since the impromptu buy and the cabin is not an upper yet. DIY videos can only teach you so much. The windows leak in heavy storms, the shingles on the roof still need to be replaced, and the door to the 'second bedroom' doesn't close all the way but you'll get to it.

Not like the pipes are lead…at least you don't think the pipes are lead.

Between your part time job, part time classes, and procrastinating fixing your home; you gardened. A selection of hardy flowers with a few vegetables closer to the tree line. Nothing fancy but you did have several books on it in the hopes it would help you. Potatoes, onions, green beans, and a tomato plant called your garden home for now. They should all be ready soon and you are hoping this season you would do better. 

It also helped with the food bill. Not like it took much to feed just you though.

You had migrated back inside after a few hours of yard work. Flowers had been weeded and you had pinched off the new growth stems on your tomato. The book said to remove the stems at the second leaf to help the plant focus on fruit growth. You didn't fully understand but that was why this year you had only one plant. Unlike last year when you got ballsy and ended up with some weird tomatoes that all tasted like dirt.

Not sure what went wrong there but you were willing to try again but on a much smaller scale.

The news was droning on about something or another while you washed your hands in the kitchen. When the news anchor casually mentioned 'increase in Decepticon activity' is when you actually started paying attention.

Increased activity? How do you get more increased than the raids and crazy schemes they were doing already? Ugh this was why you tried not to watch the news. It just made you frustrated and sad. But you had gotten into enough fights with people close to you that you watched the news anyway. Just to know the weather and keep an eye on any actual news.

Celebrity gossip wasn't news nor was the hour after the news where those older rich women drank wine. You wanted to get paid to drink wine at 7 a.m. while gossiping.

But because you did not get to do that you avoided the early morning news except for the weather. So the evening news told you what was up and right now it was the 'Cons doing what they did best', Steal stuff apparently. Though you wouldn't say they were good at that because they never got much before the Good guys would chase them off. Maybe they are better at falling through buildings and knocking off the power to the whole city on accident?

That had been a terrible weekend.

The sharp jingle of an urgent news flash caught your attention. The older looking guy with the colorful tie was on. Looking as serious as ever.

"The Deceptions have been spotted moving into South City. Stay cautious and evacuate all large buildings. Take shelter where necessary."

He carried on with the usual song and dance about ducking for cover and avoiding being stepped on; Run to the side not ahead. No-brain things that wouldn't be considered in a moment of panic so this well-aged man had to make sure you were thinking about it now.

That's one of the reasons you picked this place though. It wasn't in the city so you could avoid falling chunks of buildings when the fighting really got going. You so didn't have much traffic on your way home or any close neighbors. Sure there was some kind of ranch, that also could have been a cult, a few miles further out but they didn't mess with you. So did they count as legit neighbors?

The only real danger you faced was if something were to happen to you. Then no one would know. That point was brought up by a close friend. You didn't have the heart to just shrug off her concerns so you reassured her that you would be as careful as you could. 

You switched to another news channel and the woman on the screen looked much more shocked than the older man. "Several factories robbed, airplanes sucked dry, and broken streets along several major routes through the city. We aren't sure at this time if the robberies were a distraction to syphon the fuel or not."

And with that you turn the TV off. At the same moment you hear something hit your house and nearly jump out of your skin. It takes you precisely 2 seconds to convince yourself the noise didn't come from your TV.

Sounds like someone hurled a brick at your house but much denser sounding. What if they busted a hole in the siding or cracked it again! You couldn't afford to fix that much damage right now.

You slipped a pair of worn down sneakers on and took off outside to investigate the status of your dwelling. Out the back door and into the garden. The veggies looked fine but glancing to your right you could see where the damage was. Your bed of New England Aster was a bit singed and you could see an actual crumpled part of the Four o'clocks. Probably where whatever hit the house then hit the dirt. The morning glories you had convinced to climb your house had been mostly ripped off.

Frustration was the first emotion to hit you but was quickly replaced with agony. Too much time wasted on flowers. All for not. Ruined in 10 seconds by something. You weren't sure you had the will power to try again now that it was ruined. Speaking of those 10 seconds. Whatever had hit your house was moving among the remains of your Four o'clocks. It looked small. Might be an animal? Though what kind of animal would make such a solid sound on impact was lost on you.

You took a step into the crushed flowers. Mindful of the fact that a few were slightly on fire. For some reason. 

You spied some kind of hunk of hot pink metal shifting through the leaves and broken stems of greenery. It had jagged arms? A weird bit of mass on its back and what looked to be tiny rockets?

With an impressive display of mobility, for a piece of metal, you assume it righted itself. Then it turned to look at you. With its bat like face. Roughly the mass of a dog but small enough you might be able to pick it up. If that was something you found yourself wanting to do for whatever reason. It looked at you with its sharp red glass eyes and you looked at it with your not glass eyes.

That's when you noticed the Decepticon logo on its chest. Yet you were still compelled to open your mouth and say "Are you alright?"


	2. Making Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your adventured continue for better or worse.

You shifted your feet. Feeling for purchase. Placing one foot slightly farther into the plants to get better leverage as you leaned in. The pink and brown shifting mass of metal hissed at you with all the anger of someone who got caught doing something embarrassing and the only solution was to kill all those involved. You jumped back raising your hands in the air.

"No hissing I just want to help! Honest." You stepped back again. Allowing the metal bat creature to crawl out of the flower bed. Its shifting didn't look at fluid as it seemed like it should have been. Maybe something was broken? It did just hit your whole ass house.

You tried again. "Is there anything I can help with?"

It took a moment, moving its various bits and pieces. Some producing slight grating noises and others looking jerky but moving. It looks to debate for a moment before locking eyes with you. Silent before opening its mouth and the saddest mechanical whimper comes out.

"I was in the fight earlier and my thrusters were damaged!" You might have just opened Pandora's Box. "I was just doing my job and i got shot out of the sky then someone stepped on me. I was able to get away but only because whoever was on me got hit with concrete!"

It wiggled, what you've realized are probably wings, at you while it cries. The concrete comment also makes you remember what the news mentioned about road damage. The feeling of relief at not living in the city hits you again.

"That sounds terrible." 

"I was on my way home because I was left behind but i'm so tired." It's eyes somehow looks moist but you doubt there is any actual water involved. Up until iridescent pink tears formed.

What.

"Sorry to hear that...uh little guy?"

His ears swivel towards you. "Rabat. I'm a male...by your species standards...I think. I'm a mech anyway." 

So you've been informed that your new and unwilling guest is a male and that robots are apparently okay with using human pronouns. That's nice.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Rabat. Welcome to my house and ...my flower bed." He looks around them and you can swear he looks a little apologetic but you might be looking for what you want to see. "Do you need cleaned at all? I mean do you want to come in?"

The prospect of getting cleaned up seems to catch his attention. "That would be so nice! You are so nice!" 

You crouched down to pick him up then froze. Realizing that you didn't actually asked if you could lift him nor did you know if he wanted to be lifted. Would it be weird to carry him in? Would he get mad? You locked eyes with him while still squatting; hands slightly held out to grasp him under the wings. "Is this okay-"

He cuts you off but leaping right into your arms and smacking against your chest. The air is knocked out of you as you stumble back a little before falling on your ass. You wheeze but hold him tight to yourself. He nuzzles your chest then looks up at you. "Nice catch!"

He was maybe a foot from you if that. Not really a catch but you'll take what you can get. 

A weak smile forms on your mouth as you struggle to stand. He's not as heavy as you thought he would be but he's still made of metal. Without throwing your back out you both get upright and start heading to the back door.

You sat him in your sink, turned on the water, and looked at him expectantly.

He splashed a little but looked at you.

Deciding to just go for it you grabbed a new sponge, your 'Spring Cherry Blossom' scented dish soap, and started cleaning him like the world's biggest and most inconvenient plate. Rabat made sure to hold still while you cleaned between his seams. No need to pinch your fingers. There was plenty of giggling though as you found the more sensitive parts of him.

Wrapped in an old fluffy red towel you sat him on the counter. The scene would have been adorable if it hadn't been for his sharp all-tooth smile. He was a bat though so you'd forgive him.

After the excitement wore off you both ended up chilling on your front porch. Up until he got a comm from base and had to leave.

\---

Just when you were getting use to being alone again he showed back up. A little over a week later. 

"The war has been slow." Was his answer. Apparently the Decepticons were well stocked on energon and going to let the Autobots drop their guard before doing another raid. Hoping to catch them with their pants down or something. Metaphorical pants of course.

After that point Ratbat became a regular part of your life. You learned he liked romantic comedy movies. 50 First Dates had him in the equivalent of robot tears again. You doubted he understood some of it but apparently the humor wasn't all lost on him because they had human TV back at base. Now if you could just him to stop singing.

Eventually the living room window was left open for him. It got closed every night to keep animals out but you figured if he wanted in enough he would use the tiny claspers on his wings to open it anyway. Hopefully he was above smashing his way in.

Today's activity was online shopping. You had several different tabs open on your phone and were comparing prices to similar items while Ratbat sat on your lap. His help wasn't always actual help. His taste veered on the side of extravagant and mildly tacky. Though he did seem to understand that what he liked wasn't always cost effective or practical.

"That one." He tapped the screen as you were browsing. So you scrolled back up to what he had pointed out. It was a simple dress but it had an appealing neckline and a small section mid waist where it cenched in slightly. The color wasn't what you would usually go for. Dark colors were harder to stain after all.

Living in the dirt was like that.

"Are you sure? There's a dark blue version too."

"Please?! I haven't seen you in anything colorful yet. Plus it would look really nice on you! It'll match your eyes too!" Bouncing slightly on your lap.

Well who could turn down a compliment, let alone two of them. 

"Alright. I'll find some occasion to wear it." You put it in the online basket.

He absolutely beamed at you.

And that was how most of your time with him went.


	3. Birds of a Feather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing bird number 1.  
Sorry the build up is so slow. I didnt want to shove all the character introductions into one chapter.
> 
> Also tell me if I'm being too wordy.

Summer had crawled to an end and your harvest had not been as bountiful as you wanted but it was better than previous tries. The Four o'clock were looking better but they had a bald patch. The broken and dead plants had to be removed. That left a definite patch of flowerless dirt. Too bad a flower toupee wasn't a thing. They could really use it.

With summer almost over autumn was coming. It had rained several times and the temperature wasn't so bad. There were still unpleasantly warm days though.

You just got back from a quick grocery run and were putting your goods up when you noticed the window was still open. Must have left it open on accident when you left earlier. It didn't look like any animals got in or the place would be trashed. So you went back to restocking.

With that done you stretched and turned around to head deeper into your house. Leaving the window open for a breeze and Ratbat. If he wasn't already here. 

Planning to crash on the couch when the faint sound if a thrusters kicking on caught your attention.

You looked toward the hall that leads to the rest of your house but it wasn't Ratbat you saw. It was some bird like object. It was black with yellow wings and silver areas. It had that familiar purple logo on its wings. It was flying at you.

With a shout you hit the floor hard enough to leave bruises.

There was a very solid thud a few feet away. A beat of silence then you looked up. The bird was much closer than you were prepared for. You jerked back in shock. Doing a flip in positions to now be sitting on your butt with your legs akimbo.

"Hey," You swallowed nervously. "Did you need something?" Putting on what you hoped was a winning smile.

"Pfff so your the human Ratbat has been spending so much time with." It wasn't really worded like a question but you felt like it should have been.

Straightening slightly and pulling your legs closer. You nodded. " Your one of the guys he...works with?" That probably wasn't the right thing to say. Was it really working if they also lived together and were situational siblings? Not 'related related' but from how Ratbat made it sound it was close enough. Squabbling and all that.

His bird laugh was creepy but it didn't stop him from laughing anyway. "Is that what he told you? Well he's not wrong. We do work together. We share a dock along with the others. We're mini-cons turned Cassettes after all."

Mini seemed reasonable. Seeing as how you knew for a fact this bird and Ratbat were smaller than some of the others you have seen on the news.

The dock comment was a new one though.

"Well it was nice to meet you. Welcome to my house." You stammered. Climbing to your feet you gestured a little. Avoiding getting your hands too close to that sharp looking beak. Ratbat hadn't purposefully hurt you but you didn't know about any of the others.

Without even really looking around he hopped onto your couch. "Its sad. Small and sad and horribly under decorated."

What a rude bird. "You could at least introduce yourself so I know who's dissing my house."

"Buzzsaw. The pleasures mine." A joke obviously.

You hummed a confirmation before turning the tv on. "Well here's the remote. Make yourself comfortable I guess. I need to make myself dinner." Then you go back into the kitchen.

You hear the news start up in the background before he starts channel surfing. You take this time to try to collect yourself and pull out what you'll need for a quick meal. Instant noodles and meat from last night isn't the worst you've pulled together.

Buzzsaw is still in the living room when you finish. Not like you had expected him to vanish but the thought was nice. He had also pulled your blanket off of the back of the couch and had it fluffed up around him. Like a nest.

Well he was a bird. As long as he didn't rip any of your blankets.

You sat to the furthest side to enjoy your meal. "Buzzsaw?"

"That's my designation." He pecked the remote again. Landing back on the nightly news. Going on about some celebrity nonsense.

You pushed on. "Do you know why Ratbat spends so much time here? It's not that interesting." You let the 'I'm not interesting' comment go.

"Beats me. Could be that your hovel is actually mini-con sized and your furniture is plush. My bet is it could also be that the noise level isn't maxed at all times."

Ignoring that blatant jab. "Your base is really that bad?"

"It's wet, sized for mechs much larger than us, and is filled with bored blood-thirsty soldiers. If we didn't work directly for Soundwave I'd bet we would be the target of much more 'amusement' than we are." And with that you lost him. Drawn in to the man with nice hair talking about architecture and complementary colors.

He did give you quite a bit to chew on though.

He started flipping again. Lands on the news and instantly getting bored of whatever actor had a secret relationship and blah blah. He landed on one of those house flipping shows.

You spoke up again. Deciding to get the big question off your chest. 

This time he didn't seem to like your interruption. "How did you learn about me? Did Ratbat mention me or something?"

Buzzsaw looked at you sideways. "No actually. He's never mentioned you."

Well that kind of hurt but You felt a little safer that some other not mini-con sized bot woulsnt hear of your place and crash here too.

"Soundwave wanted to know where he was going between fights so I took the job. Very hush hush. We wouldn't want Rumble and Frenzy learning about it." Those names sounded familiar but you didn't have any faces to put to those names so you just nodded.

"So now that I've found it," he pauses for dramatic effect. "I've decided it's not as bad as it could be. I'm going to stay too."

"Whenever you want to." Why did you say that? What the hell.

Several episodes later your new bird companion left. You both had actually started talking about remodeling and what you both knew about buildings and how they differed between your species. Also the concept of an accent wall. He thought they were tacky.

You closed the window and looked to your wall clock with the realization it was much later than you thought and you had classes in the morning.

You sighed and made your way to your room. Thoughts of crawling into your bed and sleeping were broken by what you saw. 

You remember Buzzsaw coming from this way. You didn't think he actually did anything more than look. You were wrong. 

Your bed was a mess. He had pulled up your fitted sheet and the top layer was scrunched together. Like a nest. Of course.

You were too tired to fix it so you just curled up in the mess, pulled part of it over you, and passed out. Back pains were morning's problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buzzsaw is a dick. What else can I say?


	4. Twins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All you wanted to do was watch a movie...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always tell me if I missed anything weird.

It was just starting to drizzle when Ratbat showed up. He had landed outside and tapped on the window. It was sweet how patient he was with you while you made your way over to him.

"I hate how wet your planet is!" You sat him on the counter in the kitchen and started drying him off.

"Some humans would agree with you on that, sweety." You made sure to get in the small areas so he didn't soak the blankets.

Tonight was movie night and you moved your few blankets into the living room for the occasion. At the last moment you also decided to leave the front door open. It would let in a breeze and the roof on your porch would keep the wet out. 

With how the couch was set up all you would have to do is look to the left if you heard an animal coming in. So that wasn't a big concern for tonight. You would not let the night get ruined by a little rain.

"Jaws, Titanic, or the Wizard of Oz? They are all classic but very different." You had pulled the movies out for Ratbat to pick from.

"Titanic is the lovey one right?" You nodded " I want that one."

You put the movie on and sat down with him. He sat on your lap and you both were wrapped in blankets. Letting the soft pitter patter of rain be the background noise to your nice evening.

He asked you a few questions about customs and things that weren't as common these days and you answered as best you could. Also explaining cruises weren't that fancy anymore. They were more tropical and not like a floating ball.

RatBat seemed to like the latter concept more. 

"You should find dresses like they have!" 

"You-you mean like from the Edwardian Era?" His statement actually catches you off guard.

"If that's when they're from then yes. They look nice! You'd look nice!"

You're flattered but that's a lot of clothing and big hats. "It's definitely a look…" you neither encourage nor deny his request. You both lapse into silence and continue the movie.

That is until the both of you hear loud wet metal on stone sounds from outside your house. You, having basically no experience with things that could sound like that, just stare at the open door with confusion. Ratbat crawls out of the blankets and puts himself between you and the noise.

That's when you see the lights and the bodies. Large red lights above metal bodies. A large blue hand reached out to grab your door frame. The gentle rain somehow making the whole situation feel surreal.

Then it came into the threshold of your house. The soft light of the kitchen lamp illuminating the blue of its metal. With that the moment was broken when your brain caught up with the situation. It was just another metal man. Not some kind of monster.

"Hey Twerp we found you!" That wasn't voice you were prepared to come from that mouth.

"Get out!" Ratbat screeched at your new guests. All you could do was blink at them.

"What and let you hog this? You'd like that but we can't have it." The blue one smirked as he leaned against your kitchen counter.

"Sharing is caring Ratbat!" The black and red one said as he looked over the magazines and other garbage you had left on your kitchen table. What edgy colors.

"How did you even learn about here? Get out! You aren't wanted here!" Your pink friend had climbed onto the arm of the couch. Probably ro put himself between you and what you assumed were the other tiny guys he worked with.

"Was is Buzzsaw?" You casually mentioned.

Ratbat whipped around to look at you. Scandalized. Apparently the bird never told him about his appearance. All you could do was shrug at him.

"Actually overheard him tell Laserbeak they should come by sometime. He wasn't being as quiet as he should of been." His smile was all flat white teeth. Very uncanny.

With that the three of them launched back into bickering about finders-keepers that devolved into a weird beeping mechanical language you had no hopes of understanding.

"Your dripping on my floor." Was all you could think of to get them to stop yelling. You bounced off the couch, spilling the blankets to the floor. You grabbed the towels left by Ratbat and handed them over to the new comers. Honestly he could probably absolutely destroy you with a flick of his wrist but you were trying to be hospitable and not let your old wood floor get soaked through.

"Real guts fleshy." The red one grabbed your arm and raised you to your tippy toes. The blue twin was at least drying himself off. Not well but it was the thought that counts.

The screeching was probably Ratbat being offended for you. "Her name is-"

You sighed loudly. "I didn't mean to offend you. I'd just rather not spend the night mopping. Do you want to watch movies with us?" Assuming that all of you could fit on the couch together. The screech turned into that sad mechanical whine again.

"Sappy romance movies? No way." The blue one said elbowing his brother who let you go to slap at him.

"I have a few others to choose from if your really against it. What are your names by the way?" You rubbed where he grabbed you and made your way back to the tv.

"I'm Rumble and this idiot is Frenzy." You looked back just in time to see that the blue one was talking. Let's just hope you didn't get confused in the future. Or that these idiots switched their paint on you. They seem like the kind.

"I have The Shining and Jaws."

"I like Jaws." The red...Frenzy said tossing Ratbat off the couch so he could throw his legs onto it. Rumble grabbed the offending feet and bent his twin at a 90 degree angle so he could sit. He then so gracefully tossed the legs to the floor so Frenzy was left sprawled half off the couch.

Before anymore fighting could happen you popped the movie in, picked Ratbat up, and dashed to sit between the two. Not your smartest moment but you also were casually letting terrorists hang out in your house. You weren't even ready to un-box all of that. Maybe never actually.

Frenzy put his feet on the coffee table and you praid it held. Rumble threw his arm over the back of the couch and around you. You looked up to see him grinning back at you. You decided to smile back at him. Best to be amiable. Ratbat hissed at Rumble which ruined it.

Rumble went to grab him and you shifted Ratbat away. "Hey, honey, let's just watch the movie. You guys can fight later. Frenzy snorted which was weird because his nose didn't look to have holes… why did they have noses?

You had so many questions.

For now though you'd be content with just watching movies and making new friends.


	5. The Last of 'em

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late. Hopefully the wait is worth it!
> 
> This is also the end of the introductions.

It was the morning after when you heard hellish tapping coming from the living room. You swear you'd only gotten, at max, 4 hours of sleep. The boys had really gotten into the swing of it when you showed them your horror film collection. Left over from when you actually spent more time in the city with your human friends.

You should make more time for them. Maybe this Halloween. You doubt the robots would have a lot of fun that day. Not being able to eat candy.

After finding your slippers you scoot your way to the window.

You shove it up and step out of the way as two dark masses dart in. Seems like Rumble and Frenzy aren't the only brothers.

You leave them to start a pot of coffee. You sniff a container of leftovers then decide why not. You put them in a pan with an egg, to make it more breakfast-y. Eggs are breakfast food. You finish your breakfast just in time to make a cup of coffee and head into the living room.

The birds seem to have found the blanket basket. Buzzsaw had left it for you several nights ago. It was probably stolen but it was a gift and small so you kept it. It also worked well to store your spare blankets in so the birds wouldn't ransack your room to take your covers. That was rude the first time Buzzsaw had done it. You wouldn't want to imagine what two of him could do.

Him and his partner had dragged the basket away from its original place, by the TV. They had instead drug it near the couch. They also removed the couch cushions. Those were placed on the floor in front of the couch and had blankets spread across them. They looked alright for having claws and beak on them.

You made your way over to them after setting the hot cup on the counter closest to the living room.

"I haven't met you before." You smiled to the red bird. Who you assume might be a twin to your bird friend.

"I'm amazed you can actually recognize that." They go back to pulling on the blankets. "I'm Laserbeak." They throw in dismissively.

Buzzsaw, who thankfully is more familiar with you at this point, looks to you. "Laserbeak is my batch-sister. We don't have a spark connection like twins do but we still have a strong bond." He looks at you sharply. "Don't get them confused."

Laserbeak speaks up again. "Not all cars are related so why would all birds be?." Good point.  
You'd find that statement odd if you knew it wasn't directly connected to robots that turn into cars.

You weren't sure why he seemed so upset about the difference. Maybe it pointed to most people assuming that? Who knew really. Honestly that wasn't the part that caught you off guard. "There are girls?" You ask it quietly.

Laserbeak chuffs at you. "It doesn't happen often and the council liked to pretend that it never happened but it does. Not a big frame difference between femme and mech though. It's mostly in the spark."

You kind of want to call her exotics but that also seems kind of insulting so you just nod and wonder if there are any other femmes on planet. You'd never get to see them but it's a nice thought. Female repression and all that.

You end up genuinely smiling as you help them build. Being this close you also notice the weld lines on Buzzsaw's back half.

"Did you get...fixed?" You squint at him.

"It happens." He answers sharply.

"He got shot out of the air while on a scouting mission. Him and Ravage got back a few hours ago." Laserbeak looks at you with what could possibly be a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Don't call me out like that." He snaps at her and you get to hear that weird bird laugh all over again.

\---

It wasn't that late in the season but you were trying to prep the garden for next year. Nothing was really clear about when you should do that just that you needed to do it before the frost. Fertilize the ground and cover it in leaves. You were also making sure all the weeds were removed. Only the best for your plants next year.

You eventually turned to grab your cup of water and fell over yourself. A massive black cat was sitting a few feet from you. How hadn't you heard him coming?

That's when you saw the light shine to his almost matte coat. He was made of metal. Of course. Next you noticed the massive rockets on his hips. That was some serious firepower. Hopefully he hadn't brought them for you. You doubted he would need them. He could probably jump then land on you hard enough to instantly destroy you and your life.

"Hey!" The cheerful tone you tried for ended up just sounding afraid.

He stocked slightly closer and set next to you and what use to be you poor tomatoes. "What are you going to do?" That rich baritone shouldn't have belonged to a cat. This was a sin.

"I...what?" A crooked and unsure smile was all you could manage. The silence that followed was uncomfortable.

"What do you have planned for my team?" He clarified. He managed to not sound condescending. Though he did sound a little exhausted? Or frustrated?

You took a second to think about it. "I didn't have anything planned actually. I could have called the cops but Ratbat didn't seem like too much trouble." The birds aren't bad and I think I'm afraid of the twins the most with all the grabbing and whatnot."

He seems to take that in. "I'll accept that." If a cat could smirk he would be. "Even if you are stupid."

He laugh. Less nervous but still a little rattled. "That's what we're known for. Making dumb choices we refuse to regret."

"I'm ravage. If you were wondering."

"Oh, yeah. Nice to meet you. The birds mentioned you before." He hums at that.

He continues to sit near you while you work. Turning the soil and trying to get it ready for next year. Ravage even moves your sack closer to you when you move down the line. Not many words are exchanged but you feel like he doesn't mind. You don't have any leaves to cover it with yet. Your just going to have to write yourself a reminder and wait. You could buy a cover but you don't want to spend your money on a hobby that might fail.

You eventually move back to the house. Sitting on the single folding chair to admire your hard work. It all looks like dirt but you figure that's what it should look like. Ravage sits with you and even gives you his opinion when you ask about radio stations. It's not surprising that he's more of a classical music kind of guy.

All in all, it wasn't that bad.


	6. Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its been a bit since you heard from your new robot acquaintance.  
You use this time to reflect but only just a little.
> 
> You also have a small glass of wine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have a Halloween chapter planned but I don't think I'll get to it in time for the actual holiday.  
So i guess you should expect one AFTER Halloween.
> 
> Now, enjoy some domestic shenanigans.

It had been roughly a week with none of your now regular visitors showing up. Arriving home to the blankets on the couch in nest form, shouting from inside, or Ratbat flying at your face was normal. Especially the Ratbat one. That happened almost daily. Though all week you hadn't gotten any of that. Not even note to explain the absence.

Maybe they moved on? That thought actually hurt but you were just human. 

Maybe they got busy though. They are fighting in a war. You knew this before you met any of them. You knew this before you had actually seen any pictures of the 'aliens' on the news. If that was the case you hoped they weren't hurt.

Putting aside all that you started on a simple late lunch. Spiced up ramen with some veggies so it was at least a little healthier for you.

It's strange how use to the racket you had gotten. You miss the noise more than you thought. It had only been a month right? You took your meal to the table but before you sit down you went to the CD player and put in your regular tunes. The music helped.

A few songs in you had your dishes done and were drying the last of them. The loud abrasive tap against glass almost made you toss your pot to the floor. It happens again. Giving you almost no time to react before your darting to the window to get it up. Better save it before they break it.

Rumble pushes his way in and hits the floor with a victorious shout. Frenzy follows quickly landing on his brother. The victory cry turns into a grunt of pain as the twin terrors wrestle slowly away from the window.

Ratbat popped in next. Going straight for your arms with a gleeful squeak. "Hey Batty. How have you been?"

His eyes sparkled but before he had the chance to answer he's cut off by Ravage's impressive baritone. You didn't even catch him coming in. "We have been fighting. Our entire squad was sent to collect valuable information on a possible source of energy." He flicked its tail a few times.

You nod to him. "Did you have fun, honey?" You asked Ratbat.

"Yea it was lots of fun but we all got pretty dinged up. We would have been back sooner but we had to get fixed then Soundwave wanted to make sure we were fixed right then they had a party at base. They had to get the Cone-heads, Thundrcracker, and MixMaster stable first though."

No one you recognized to be honest. "That's a lot of people. What even happened?" Something with that many giant robots taken down should have been on the news?

"The Cone-heads fell into MixMaster as he was trying to refine the chemicals into energon or something that could more easily become energon. Thundercracker was his guard and ended up caught in the explosion." 

He sounds way too cheery to have just talked about people he knows blowing up but you do know that life in their base is high stress. So...that means something.

You set him on the ground with a pat on the head before looking to your living space.

On your way to the window to close it Rumble pulls you onto the couch. Right across his lap with your feet on Frenzy. The red twin looks disgruntled.

"Bro." He gestures.

Rumble grins. "Do humans get overcharged?" You don't know what that is but your honestly afraid so you shrug. He reaches into his side, somehow, and pulls out a pink cube.

Frenzy goes from glaring at your feet to instantly perked up. "Who did you get it from?"

" Skywarp. I hacked the medbay doors so he could get in to see Thundercracker. He's grounded from teleporting until we can distill enough quality energon that he won't throw himself into stasis again."

That also sounds horrible and you think you have figured out what that sickly pink liquid is for. It's much thicker and opaque than what Ratbat cries.

"You have alcohol." Rumble looks to you as he passes the cube to Frenzy. The action draws your attention to what appears to be a stand-in arm. A little too big to be his and the colors are on they gray side. "You hurt yourself?"

"Uh, yeah," He looks at his arm like he needs confirmation. "Happens." Then him and Frenzy get to drinking. You indulge by having a glass of wine but that's it.

"So. Honey, you guys can feel things right?" Your sitting on the stool you usually put the radio on when you place it near the window. You can feel Ratbat's indignant expression from across the room.

Rumble either didn't notice or didn't care."What kind of question is that? 'Course we do. Getting your arm ripped off hurts like slag."

You hold your free hand up hoping he quiets back down. "I was just wondering. Your metal. So I guess it's just weird to me?"

Frenzy laughed at the look on Rumble's face. "We have nerves and sensors. Same way we feel emotions except some people are glitched. Like Vortex. Slagger is off his rocker."

The more you know. "So you can feel pain. What about other stuff?"

"Are you trying to hit on me squishy." The grin that broke across his face was mischievous in nature.

"No! I was just wondering out loud." You squeak and Rumble laughs. You think you heard frenzy reply with 'as if' over it. Not sure if he means you or Rumble.

After that you popped a movie in and ravage managed to chase Frenzy off for his spot on the couch. It was only some carefully chosen words that kept Frenzy from throwing the cat and also probably ending the couch's life.

But just like that, the night was over and your guests left. It has taken time but you were actually feeling more comfortable with them. You cleaned up the best you could then sat on the couch to rest. Before you knew it, you were out like a light.


	7. Broken Doors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things seem to be going well between you all...well, up until you break down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here are the feelings. No one asked for them but I've actually had this chapter written for a loooong time.  
Time to deal with your own feelings.

The day had started well enough. The news said low temperatures all week, you had gotten to eat a full breakfast, and your boss had let you work on recovery. So all you had to do was walk around the store and make things look nice. An easy low-stress day.

So you shouldn't have been surprised when you got home to find your door literally hanging on a hinge. You rushed forward hoping to hell you hadn't gotten robbed or some kind of crazed animal hadn't gotten in and demolished your fridge.

You really should have expected it to just be them. Though the door wasn't what you should have been worried about. You rush in just to find Buzzsaw squawking at the twins. Rumble was standing on one of Ratbat's wings while Frenzy and him shoved at each other, bickering.

Your kitchen chairs were missing and your couch was tipped over. You didn't smell anything burning but you couldn't be sure. You could hear the tv playing something that sounded like wrestling at an unreasonable volume. Ratbat whined and bit at Rumble's foot causing him to lose balance and knock the small table, with your CD player on it, over. The crack that it made was sign enough it was broken.

"What in the hell is this?!" Your outburst clearly scared all of them. Buzzsaw's neck pulled back and his beak snapped shut with a sharp sound. Ratbat wiggled free and zoomed into your arms. Though Rumble and Frenzy didn't seem nearly as chargined as the rest of their team. "You took my door off?" 

You knew your voice had broken and was much higher than you wanted.

Frenzy was the first to speak up. "You can fix it."

"I shouldn't have to fix it! This is my house. I live here. I can't just call a handyman here whenever I need assistance. I'm broke. Plus what if he saw you?" You had stormed further into your house. 

Last second you sat Ratbat on your table. Keeping it between you and the twins. You were angry. Not stupid and right now you weren't sure if they would respond well to your yelling. That was enough to sober you up.

Much quieter you started again. "You'd get in so much trouble. I'd say 'If you didn't catch him' but then his death would be on me and I couldn't handle that! I'm a person too! I have feelings!" You should have stopped. You wanted to stop but everything you had ignored up until now was coming out.

"What did you even do." You threw your arms forward, palms up. Gesturing to the mess as a whole.

Ratbat unhelpfully chimed in. "Your rooms a wreck to."

"Why were you in my room?!" Your red. Flushed with anger and embarrassment.

"Just a room." Rumble this time pitches in.

"But it's mine. It's the only place I have privacy." Your still angry but with Frenzy coming at you it's replaced with a little more fear than fire.

You hurry to the side of the kitchen and point to the broken front door "Go."

Frenzy stops by the table and frowns. Rumble quirks his mouth at you. "What?"

"Go. Everyone. I need time to think and I want you to go." You feel bad but you need a moment. So much of your stuff looks broken. Your going to have to buy so much new stuff. You feel tears coming but try to hold it back. 

You add in quieter and slightly drowned out by the announcer on tv. "Please. I need a moment…"

With less bitching than you thought possible they leave. Ratbat is the last and gives you his best kicked puppy eyes. You make sure to reassure him your not that mad. You just need to actually digest everything. Then you kissed his forehead and sent him on his way.

\---

You turned your tv off, threw away everything that was broken, and tipped your couch back over. You found a tear on one of the cushions. You hoped to God it was an accident. Maybe it got caught on Rumble's butt.

Your patched job isn't the best so you end up flipping the cushion over anyway. Your chairs are still missing and you don't feel like spending all night looking for them. You decide you can replace the chairs later then head to your bedroom.

Your mattress is half on the ground and has a noticeable imprint on one of the corners. Like someone with a beak was trying to drag it into the living room. Probably to make a nest. You give it your best effort yo get it back on the frame. It ends up slightly off center but that's nothing you can care to worry about after today.

You fix your bedding and scoot your dresser back into place. The bottom drawer was open but nothing looked too out of place.

You settle for an emergency tv dinner and it isn't until you sit down to eat it that the tears come.

You'd blame the fact that it is a TV dinner and those are just horrible but you know you've been putting off reactions too long. This was bound to happen. At Least your alone for it.

You feel bad for kicking them all out like that but your anger was justified. This was your house and you got to choose, mostly, when they came in. You almost never told them they couldn't come in but that's because you usually didn't mind them dropping in.

They're technically terrorists. You've literally let terrorists into your house and just accepted it. They didn't even threaten you. You could get into so much trouble. Hell, you could probably get arrested. You sob into your crappy meal and realize you wouldn't want them to leave. Even if you could turn them in and get off Scot free you wouldn't do it.

Sometimes they don't treat you the best but you still like having them around. Are you that desperate for contact? You have human friends but they aren't nearly as interesting. Plus they might be mean but they've never hurt you. Though you think of how Frenzy came at you earlier and you aren't sure. He looked upset but he hadn't looked like he was going to paint the ground with you…

If they ever came back you might ask him about it. That is if he answered you.

You sigh then throw your plastic dish away. You do a quick search of your house to make sure you got everything cleaned up.

You do find your CDs have been gone through but nothing is missing or broken. Which is kind of impressive because they have giant metal hands. Opening them revealed that a few of them were in the wrong cases.

You sigh.

After you decide you can't make it any longer you curl up in bed and pass out. Emotionally exhausted and tired of feeling bad for yourself.


	8. Replacements

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its only been a few days but you're starting to grow use to the silence. You've replaced what you could reasonably afford and fixed what you were able to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know its only been a bit but I really want to get this one out. It feels rushed but I could only work on it between work and trying to find a good but cheap apartment.  
No apartment yet but im hopeful!
> 
> Anyway, please point out any obvious mistakes.

There's a nip in the air but you can't seem to find it in you to care. The news said something about possible fog and a light rain moving in but someone has to fix your door. You refuse to spend your food money on a repairman. A trip to the library and you had a book called "Fixing Shit When Your Broke and Dumb." 

It was actually really helpful and didn't tell you you needed special equipment for anything and used simpler terms than some of the books you had checked out before. You weren't dumb but you did appeiciate simplicity. You had even used the tips to fix the pipe leaking under your sink. It had tips on checking over your CD player to see if it still worked too. 

Though you didn't think you really wanted to go all Dr. Frankenstein on it to be honest.

You opened and closed your door a couple times. It had a weird creak but you weren't sure why. 

You dusted your hands off after putting all your tools back into the tub you pulled them out of. No need to have a tool box when you had this big blue tote.

There was a wooden creak. Not your door. You turned around to see Ravage, with his front paws on your bottom step. Your mouth crooks to the side. A whirl of complex feelings bubbling up. 

"Did you need something?" Telling him to leave didn't even cross your mind. Though you were surprised he was here. Though, thinking about it, he wasn't at the little 'wreck the human's house' party the other boys were having.

He paused for a moment. "Are you available to talk?"

You swallowed even though your mouth was now bone dry. Not a good sign but maybe because he was a metal ma- cat from space the 'we need to talk' talk had a different meaning. You nod anyway and open your door for him.

You follow him in, leaving your tool-tub on the porch. He looks around like he's making sure you've had time to repair what the others had broken.

"I won't apologize for the others but I would like to apologize for the fact it happened." He sat on the new bench you had bought. It went under the window that pointed to your backyard. It was supposed to replace the stool you put your cd player on...that was now at your kitchen table.

You paused, licking your lips, then sat next to him. "I was under the impression that you weren't their caretaker." It came out quiet and probably not as hostile as it could have been.

"I am not but if I didn't attempt to fix this then those idiots would have sat at the base thinking you hated them. That or Ratbat would come back anyway asking for forgiveness." You could feel the exasperation.

He had a point. The birds thought they were better and might be angry at you for being mad then feel bad. Which would probably be covered by anger.

The twins probably felt at least a little bad to start with but would play dumb...and also just be angry for feeling bad. They might try to even wait you out and they had a longer shelf life than you. Geez these guys were more emotionally hung up than even you. They couldn't move miles out of the city, away from their friends, and live in a tiny cabin though.

Ravage tilted his head over until it sat on your shoulder. 

You both sat in mildly comfortable silence that only grew more comfortable and a gentle sprinkle of rain started.

"I feel bad for yelling. They made me mad but I shouldn't have yelled. I don't like upsetting people." You took a peek outside, over the semi,cone of his ear.

"It might show them that you shouldn't be stepped on." Which was comforting but that honestly made you afraid they would start treating you like you could physically be stepped on.

You swallowed again.

Ravage waits for You to speak. Keeping his head rested against your shoulder. "You can tell them to come back. I'm still mad but I would like to see them again." 

The rain drizzled against the roof in the quiet that followed. It could have made the mood somber but instead it was just calming.

"I think I'll tell them later. I would much rather enjoy the quiet here with you than play messenger boy." A giggle works its way out of you as you lean more heavily onto him.

"Sounds good to me. Know anything about fixing human tech?" You mean it mostly as a joke. Having already accepted that you were destined to buy a new CD player in the near future.

He hrmm-ed at you then hopped off the bench. "I can give it a look. Non-sentient mechanical are always easier to piece together."

You stare at him in winder as he moves your cd player to the middle of the floor to look at it. He flips it around and pokes at it a bit. A panel above his paw flips open. He pokes at it with some strange bits that look like screwdrivers. He sat the screws off to the side before continuing his surgery.

You watched as he moved parts around without a word before putting it all back together.

"That should do it. Most of the damage was external so it'll be ugly but it should work." You just barely stopped your mouth from falling open. He took like 3 minutes to fix a few knocked loose parts. 

You slip off the bench to sit on the floor by him. "Thank you. Did you want to listen to anything?"

It doesn't take him long to decide. "You don't have anything that I would prefer back on Cybertron. Maybe one of those 'classic rock' ones you have."

His choice makes your smile grow. "Sounds good to me." You popped one of the 'mixtape' CDs that your old work colleagues made for you. Before she quit and went to get a higher paying job that is. The song starts off with a nice bit of guitar before you zone out; slouched on the floor and watching the rain.

\-----

Ravage had nudged you out of your light sleep. Where you weren't really sleeping but you had drifted off with abstract thoughts. You also noticed your back hurt which you should really not be accepting as your new norm because that's not going to be healthy in the long run.

You crawl into bed with a tired and weak 'good night' aimed at Ravage. It's not particularly warm but it is comfy. Much better than your floor by a mile.

Your eyes drift close as you realize he had stayed by your side even when you had pretty much passed out on him on the floor.

\-----

You wake suddenly to the clicking of small metal feet along wood. It doesn't fully process that it isn't part of your dream until you roll over and look at your bedroom door.

Ravage had pushed it partly closed before he left. So it left just enough room for the tiny red glowing eyes to peek through without creaking your door.

A bleary second of eye contact passes before you raise your sheets in what you hope translates into 'Come here and lay with me you dumby.'

Ratbat bounces onto your bed with a small boost of his rockets. He lands and your bed lets out a groan in protest. He nestles into your side. The slight chill to his armor quickly being replaced as you wrap the blanket around him.

"I'm so sorry I didn't want to break in while you were sleeping but I'm sorry you had to run us out and for how loud those idiots were. They also left your chairs in the woods! I didn't have time to tell because we left and I don't know why they took them to the woods? Have you found them yet?!" You shushed him with a kiss to his nose.

"I forgive you and I'll go look for them in the morning." You both cuddles closer enjoying the peace.


	9. Rules and Regulations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apologize are given and you learn that maybe you shouldn't change in your livingroom anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always please point out any mistakes to me. I'm My own beta for this.

Ratbat left early that morning after checking with you three more times to make sure you weren't still mad at him. The last time he asked if you were really sure you had to really push it home.  
You placed him on your kitchen counter and grabbed his face so he was looking at you and told him out right. "I don't blame you for wrecking my house. I know you wouldn't do that but we both know how roudy the twins can get." 

Which had him nodding along until you tilted your head and added. "You just need to stop falling for it when they antagonize you." His offended squeaks at you were worth it. Once he calmed down he said he would try to not be as quick to tick off. It was a work in progress that you hoped to actually see progress made for.

You kissed him on the nose and sent him on his way back to base; hoping he wasn't late for a shift and got in trouble.

You start in on your housework before you make something to eat. Coffee comes soon after. Your work uniform is clean so you set it on the back of your couch. You'll have to leave for work soon anyway and you'd rather be prepared then go digging through a pile of clothing a minute before you have to leave.

You have a snack of crackers and cheese before stripping down in your living room. The twins will probably take days to come by and the birds might take even longer. You can finally enjoy what every young adult who lives along does.

Stripping in the middle of the house.

Your not really expecting the front door to be tossed open as you were wiggling into your pants; top still off.

Frenzy shoves his way into your house with such force your momentarily distracted because he looks down right furious."We thought it would be funny, 'kay?" 

Your hold on the back of the couch is the only thing keeping you up right at this point in time.

Rumble grumbles from behind his furious brother. "Your supposed to start that with a 'sorry' you bit-brained idiot."

Frenzy rounds on him, fists up. "I was gettin' there!"

And with that said the only thing you can think to do is yell. No real words. Just noise. It serves to get both of their attention along with Ravage's. He had come in behind them. Likely having corralled them to your house.

You shout, "I'm getting dressed!" Right as Rumble also yells a very similar, "Where's your coverings?" Both of you sound equality distraught but for much different reasons.

You button your pants with a groan of embarrassment and run to your room. Your going to be late for work if you don't die first. Your heart has stopped pumping your blood and it is instead pooling in your face. You'll bleed out your eyes and that's just sad.

You pull on the shirt you wore yesterday as someone knocks on your door.

You suck in a breath then force it back out. Calm. Collected. Your tits weren't even out. You should calm down. Why are you so embarrassed anyway? 

No, don't think about that. Introspection is for people who aren't you.

You grab the door knob and toss it open with a little more force than needed. That embarrassed you more. You make eye contact with Ravage. Face still flushed and heart pounding.

"I'm sorry about the interruption but I managed to get those idiots here in a timely manner. I figured it wouldn't be an opportunity I shouldn't let pass." He looks away briefly before looking back at you.

"Yeah," you clear your throat. "I wasn't expecting them to even stop by for another few days. Thanks for getting them here." The smile you give him isn't as forced as you were worried it would be  
You make your way back to the livingroom. Hands firmly in your pockets. You can just hear Rumble and Frenzy are talking about humans and removable coverage. Rumble seems to have calmed down. They both jump when they see you standing at the edge of the room.

"I appreciate you guys coming over," You place a hand on Ravage's head; which he doesn't instantly knock off. "But I have to go to work in like 5 minutes. It's a short shift today so do you think you can wait for me to get back?"

You know its a 50 50 that if they stay they run the risk of wrecking your house again. Ravage is here though and he's mostly sensible.

Frenzy looks excited before it morphed into suspicion. "You'll trust us in your house again? Alone?"

Sounds stupid but Ravage speaks up before you can tey to give your badly thought out reasons. "I'll be here to dissuade any violence to our humans house. Correct?" He looks up at you and the motion moves your hand off of his head and more onto his nose and forehead. So he's looking through your fingers which is actually a lot cuter than it should be.

Momentarily you're stuck looking into his eyes before you realize he's asked you for confirmation. "Of course."

Frenzy grumbles but doesn't argue. Rumble hrms but goes to sit on your couch. You leave to hopefully have a quick and good day at work.

\-----

Work sucked and you want to catch the building on fire. You were there for maybe 5 hours and got all the work pinned on you. How they expect you to run primary register, stock, and check in the vendors scheduled for today is beyond you.

You get back home with the full intention of showering then sleeping till tomorrow. You open your door to the boys on your couch watching 'Tales from the Crypt.'

After you for your shoes off you sit down next to Rumble, on the piece of couch not covered in metal. You've never been terribly interested in the show but it's nice to see them not breaking your things for once.

You doze until Frenzy not-so-gently nudges you. Terms out you ended up half draped on Rumble. He looks like he's either trying to not laugh at you or maybe puke. As soon as your awake Frenzy loses his mind. Or what he had left if it anyway.

He calms down enough to look at you both without giggling. "Are we forgiven yet?" He smirks at you like he knows he's right.

He is though. You shrug then stretch your arms over your head. Something in your shoulder area makes a satisfying pop. "Yea I guess. Just don't break my stuff. I'll think of more rules but I want the birds over here too so I can tell everyone at once." 

Rumble eyes you for casually cracking your internal pieces in his direction. You've never seen Frenzy look so interested in you so suddenly.

Ravage cycles a vent to catch your attention. "I can see if Laserbeak can force Buzzsaw to show up after his patrol this evening?"

You nod because that is honestly the best plan of action for now. Get everyone together, hear some half-hearted apologies that might be insults in disguise then tell them not to break your things but this time with rules.

Foolproof really.

So when the two birds tumble into your house, through the window Rumble had conveniently opened, your prepping your house owner brain for the worst. Holes punched into your walls by arant wings, deep grooves and scratches on your floor, and everything you love on fire.

So you're terribly and terrifyingly surprised when the tumble ends with only minor squawking and fire.

"Apologize to her now." Are Laserbeak's firsts words in English since they tossed themselves through your window.

"If those idiots weren't so easily goaded!" He begins to toss back until Laserbeak grabs something behind his neck and pull.

He screeches so loud you think the forest animals will file a noise complaint. She finally lets go and his unholy scream ends. He wont look at you but he has a weird extra bright glow to his eyes. Maybe he's embarrassed. Serves the prick right.

A few seconds pass before shes reaching for his neck again. This time he's ready and thrashes more. He can't get free from her metal winged embrace though and after a few harsh bangs he settles down again.

"Fine! I'm sorry. I know those glitched half-wits are easily insulted so I poke at them whenever I see an opportunity." Rumble protested in the background to being called a half-wit but Frenzy seemed more upset with the glitched part.

Laserbeak does her best impression of rolling her eyes then directs her attention to you. "That's the best apology you'll ever get out of him. Take it." You can't tell if she's possibly tired of his bitching at not being allowed at your house or if she actually feels bad and wants to make it better.

Either way though...

You nod, eyes wide. "I accept. Thank you for apologizing. I have a few rules I've been thinking about. Nothing unreasonable I promise."

The new rules were: Knock before coming in, don't use the kitchen, don't go into the bedroom without asking, and take turns with the t.v.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...its November and I plan for the next chapter to be the Halloween one.  
I realize it will be late but its better a few days late than a halloween chapter in March right?
> 
> Plus who wants to miss Rumble and Frenzy harassing you over the concept of trick or treating?


	10. The possibility of Sweets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Days after you setting rules and the holidays are creeping up. Introducing the possibility of hanging out with non-metal friends.  
That would probably be good for you.

The next few days were actually really nice. The other days with your new robotic space friends were good but these last few days were great in comparison. The twins haven't been in your kitchen breaking your things, the birds ask before going to your room to steal your good pillows, and Ratbat has managed to hold his tongue at least once. The comment wasn't even bad. It was childish and meant purley to poke at the poor bat. Everyone knew Frenzy could have said much worse.

In true Ratbat fashion he had puffed up and got that crazy offended look in his eye. Like he'd rip Frenzy to pieces...if he had the hands to do it.

Though he surprised you in the end by letting out a long low hiss then settling back on your lap. It was almost civilized.

Work could have been better but it was. The final stretch of the year so it was 'seasonal hell.' You had actually been in such a haze that you didn't even process that; Halloween decorations mean Halloween was soon.

That is until an old friend stopped by to invite you to go out with her and a group of friends that weekend. Her and a few people, you knew most of them, were going to stop by a few houses to get candy then go drinking. She said it would either be the bar at the other side of town or someone named Sara's house.

You were actually tempted.

You needed to socialize and maybe getting six sheets to the wind wasted would help smooth you out and make socializing not so daunting.

You did hope they didn't end up at Sara's house. You didn't know her or how many people would already be there. Plus what if she didn't expect you or you got too drunk and had to stay the night? Shit, what if they drew a dick on your face?

You needed a costume first. 

No one hands out candy to people who come up to them in no costume. Maybe a witch. You already smelled like the woods. Sexy vampire was tempting but overused. A ghost would be easy but also the lazy way out.

You were laid out on your couch looking through a magazine of costumes. You'd picked it up at work on your way out. Not specifically for the possibility of the party. Don't be ridiculous. It was to look at all the cool special effects makeup.

You thumbed a few pages back to look at the cute witch ideas.

"What are you looking at?" You jumped so hard you heard your back crack.

You turned your head, causing something in your neck to pop, and looked Rumble dead in the visor. "How did you get in?"

His mouth closed with a click. "I opened the door, dumby."

Seems you were too deep in thought and somehow missed a massive robot walking into your house. Good to know you could become so distracted you literally didn't notice him.

Your mouth forms and 'oh' and you both make prolonged eye contact before looking back to your magazine. "I'm looking at Halloween costumes. Trying to get into the spirit and all that."

"Squishy what the frag are you talking about?" He bent down to get a better look. He actually looked interested in what he was seeing but couldn't decide if he was interested of low key disgusted.

"Oh, Halloween is a human holiday. You dress up and go out to get candy. Most older people just go out drinking though." You dog ear the page with the witches then sit up.

"You get candy from strangers?" He moves around to sit next to you. Sitting his feet on your coffee table. Like usual. "Why would you do that?"

You struggle for a moment. "I think it was a really old tradition in Europe. It was believed that all the death and cold weather made the barrier between our world and the world of the dead thinner so people would dress up to scare the ghosts and spirits away. Candy just got added later and it eventually got modernized."

A manic grin breaks across his face. "Cool. You'll go get candy with me right?"

The request hits you like a bucket of cold water to the face. "Babe, you can't eat human candy." Is the most reasonable thing that comes to your mind.

"I can still want it." 

"What would you dress as?" You try countering because you can't let people know Rumble might just be hanging around the city limits. He's an actual terrorist. They were setting fire to an airport and stealing fuel hours before you met Ratbat.

He thinks for about 2.5 seconds before he snaps and points at you. "I can be myself. No one would know."

That's...actually a pretty good plan but you still feel like letting him out amongst people is a horrible idea. What if people took it seriously and the cops got called or if he hurt someone? He could pat someone and they would straight up die if he did it too hard.

Hell, he could pat you too hard and kill you.

A bad thought. You struggle to find another counter when it comes to you. "I...have other plans Rumble. My friend Betty invited me to a party."

The excited grin melts into a weird sideways look that actually has you feeling bad for not wanting to get arrested on Halloween with him. "Sounds fake." You feel less bad after that comment.

"We don't hang out that much anymore. We both work a lot. You know." You can feel your ears heating up with either anger or embarrassment.

"You don't talk about her either. Plus you spend time with us while still being an adult." He's really trying to push his case. Its cute he wants to spend time with you but you literally always spend time with him and the other cassettes. Human interaction might actually be good for you at this point.

"Rumble," His eyes loose a little bit of their glow. He knows that tone of voice. "I would like to hang out with my friends. It won't be as fun as spending time with you but i'd like to see them."

Which is the truth.

He leans back and groans. The loud and forceful cycling of his vents knock your magazine to the floor. "Fine but I want any candy those strangers you'll be seeing give you." 

You don't have the heart to tell him your too old to trick or treat without people looking at you weird. "That's acceptable."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might include some interactions with human friends. Depends on if that sounds like a good idea in the end though.  
Might have that part be passive.
> 
> As always point out anything weird and thank you for commenting!


	11. Hallowdrinks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You do end up going out on the town with friends but you get more than you wanted out of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went with a generic witch for the costume but kept it vague so you can picture it how you want!
> 
> Sorry it's literally December now. Hope you can enjoy this regardless.

You can't remember the last time you felt this awkward. Perched on a bar stool at some rinky-dink bar. They had promised they made criminality good drinks here but all you had had so far was a few sips of some fruity 'house special' that they guy making it had called 'The Witch's Heart.' A Halloween special. It was pretty and totally seeping with Halloween vibes but you couldn't really enjoy it.

You picked a cute witch outfit. Striped tights, boots, and a cheap fake corset to wear over your short black dress. You even got a headband with a mini witches hat on it and everything.

In the end Rumble had called Frenzy, on his weird internal phone, and told him about going out amongst the humans without them freaking out and also being given sweet treats. Which didn't seem like Frenzy's thing...up until he showed up at your house an hour after your conversation with Rumble. Then they had both wanted to know more followed by them forcing you to watch BeetleJuice.

The day of Halloween you had actually managed to come up with a good reason why they couldn't go 'party with you' and it was because they didn't have a good enough grasp on human customs.

They would freak your friends out. They could tell them things you weren't ready for other people to know. What if they talked about their dad and how they spent so much time at your house? Your friends would end up reading into it too much!

"Hey, come dance with me." Betty called at you from what was supposed to be a dance floor. Her too long black cat tail dragging behind her.

You missed her and how off the wall she could be sometimes but she didn't have the right kind of crazy for you.

"And let someone steal my drink? No thank you." Your boots clacked as they hit the support bar on the stool.

"If you just down it no one will even touch it." She giggles at you before taking off with one of the others in her group.

You sigh and sip your drink.

By the time you have it finished you are in slightly more cheer. The group has settled on bar hopping before ending back at Sara's place. (Uhhg.)

Everyone is chatting and you've managed to end up at the end of the group. Taking in the decorations that some of the local businesses have put up.

The mass of people stop before moving across the street. You manage to catch up before getting distracted by a faint light down the alleyway. It takes you a second for common sense to kick in and tell you people wouldn't put decorations down an alleyway.

It's too late though and the faint glow darts at you. You let out a started gasp before large arms grab you and pull you into the dark.

Your brain catches this much faster and your struggle is spontaneous but useless against the steel grip.

"If you don't fragging stop you'll hurt yourself." A familiar voice snaps at you.

"Bro, just let her go." Another one pitches in.

"What if she starts yelling and the cops come? Then we'll get in trouble and she'll be right. You know how mad she'd get if we hurt people in front of her?" The grip tightens slightly but now you know who has you so you stop struggling.

A moment of silence passes. There's a clank like one brother hit the other before your released.

"What in the fuck are you two doing out here?" You whirl around to see Frenzy with Rumble behind him. The fear induced adrenaline now being used to fuel your anger.

"Proving we can walk around without people screaming in fear. We've only had once close call aside from you. You only count cause you tried to break your hands on me though." Frenzy laughed.

"We're also spies so vanishing when needed isn't as hard as you think it would be for us." Rumble grinned.

"I told you I wanted to spend time with my human friends." You counter; stamping your foot on the ground.

"You did. Then we caught up to you when your group left that human oil house." Frenzy grabbed your arm, pulling you back into the shadow of the alley.

You huffed. "Didn't seem like you were having much fun though. At the back of the line and all that." Rumble added.

"I guess. Betty and I are just distant and I didn't realize how much we'd grown apart until tonight. I thought getting liquored up would help but…" you trail off and gesture to them and the world at large. Like that would explain it to them.

It was silent until Rumble spoke up again. "If you feel bad for trying to ban us from Halloween it obviously didn't work." 

You let out a short laugh as he ruffles your hair making your hat slip forward. You huffed again while trying to fix your hair.

"What are you dressed as anyway?" The blue brother asked while eyeing you. "Not anything cybertronian."

"Like I know anything about Cybertron to dress like something from it." Frenzy started out into the street light. You had to follow if not to be left behind then to make sure they didn't cause any trouble.

"You could have dressed as one of us!" 

"Rumble, honey, that would have been weird." You walk beside Frenzy with Rumble following behind. A little too close.

"You could have dressed as a cassette. We could have even named you." Frenzy adds.

"That could have been cute!"

Your not sure if you should be worried about them being excited at the idea of you pretending to be a robot or not. If you were a little drunker you could ignore it though.

You interrupt them talking about how they could have Ravage make you a miniature visor. "We can't go drinking. You guys don't have IDs to get into a bar nor can you drink human drinks."

"We can crash a party and take their booze."

\-----

The panic you felt as Rumble and Frenzy herded you towards the large open Halloween party was just about to melt you. Leave you as a fearful puddle they'd have to mop up.

"Calm down babe. It's an open door party so they should be expecting random people to pop in." Rumble rested his hand on your upper back. Which didn't calm you at all.

There was a girl at the door dressed as a zombie cheerleader. You didn't hear her and Frenzy's conversation through the buzzing in your ears.

Whatever was said must have been fine though cause she laughed and then you guys were in. Luckily they had enough room to stand straight up. There also weren't so many people you were packed in like sardines.

"See, smooth sailing." Frenzy looked proud of himself.

Someone waved him over with a comment about his outfit. He wandered off to check out the beer pong table surrounded by boys. Right where he belonged if he was a human.

They left you and Rumble except he had managed to wander off too. You checked around for any glossy blue metal. You saw something move and followed it.

Rumble had ended up in the kitchen chatting with a guy, dressed as a werewolf or a lumberjack, who was almost as tall as him.

"You made that by yourself?"

" 'course I did. Im cool like that." He laughed and the man chuckled.

"Rumble!" You inched your way around a girl making a drink. You grabbed his arm to prevent him from slipping away again. 

"Hey babe. I told you we could find a party and we'd all get to drink." You grinned at you but kept his mouth closed. Thinking about it he kept his mouth a lot more closed than he usually would.  
Was he being sneaky?! The man fills a couple blue plastic cups from the spigit of a cooler. 

He slides them across the counter. "Neat." And a short whistle are his only answer he gives Rumble.

You shake your head. "Can we leave?"

"We both get drinks first. We can't let Frenzy beat us. He's playing that beer table game." You huff as he pushes your cup to you.

You look at it like the suspicious liquid it is.

"Pink panty droppers." The guy answers your questioning look. Rumble picks his cup up and downs it in one go. Like the vacuum he is.

He sigh and take a hearty drink.

"That your girlfriend?"

You sputter out a watery 'no' right as Rumble answers with his own 'yeah.'

You look at him and he looks at you. The man laughs and leave you both to stare at each other.

You whisper. "Rumble." Before taking another big drink. Sobriety be damned if this is how the nights going to go. He probably doesn't know what the wolf-lumberjack guy even meant.

"Guys," Frenzy rushes "the couch is on fire we have to go."

You actually spit your mouthful out. Before you can respond Rumble grabs the cooler and charges out the back door. Frenzy grabs you in an under arm carry and follows after his blue brother.

You realize your squealing in some form of fear and joy. They are moving fast over fences and between buildings. The dark is filled with their manic laughter. It's enough to get you to actually start giggling along. 

Your in another neighborhood when Frenzy sets you down. "I swear it was an accident."

You dust yourself off. "I hope so." Rumble hands you a cup that you take before thinking to question why he has it.

Then he starts filling it up with the cooler you saw him lift.

"This is illegal." You hiss but don't stop him. He smirks and shrugs.

You end up downing the cup which he subspace once you hand it back.

"I was so worried about you!" A slurred voice calls to you from down the block. You turn to see a drunk black car making her way towards you. A few friends still with her.

"Oh, yeah sorry about that."

"What happened?" She walks right past Rumble and throws her arms around you.

"My friends caught me while we were on our way to the next bar and I guess I just got carried away." She looks hurt but the twins both chuckle at your joke.

She pats your back before taking a step back. Good think she was in flats or she'd ve on her ass. "They could have joined us."

"Frenzy here isn't much of a people person. He's a bit wild." Rumble answers. Frenzy buffs and looks ready to square up.

It takes her a second to process. "What?"

"Oh, they're being robots. Like on the news."

She giggles. "They're certainly tall enough for it. Let's do this again next year but you invite your friends too. Then we can stay in a group." She waves at you as she skips away to the best of her ability.

"Haha maybe." Is all you can say. You sigh and lean on Frenzy when she's far enough away. Probably going to Sara's house. "I'm ready to go home." They make sounds of agreement.

\-----

Rumble gets you to have a few more cups of his ill gotten booze when Frenzy busts out the real stuff. At Least the real stuff for him and Rumble. Frenzy says its the last of what he got from Skywarp.

"A party for three." Is what Frenzy called you guys sprawled on the couch. They pulled the coffee table up to the couch and covered it in covers from your 'bird basket'. Then Frenzy picked his favorite horror flick before they caged you between them on the couch.

By the end of the night Frenzy was tipsy and yelling at the actors, Rumble had finished off the cube, and was encouraging him. Either arguing or asking Frenzy to explain how a human could do some of the things he was saying the humans could do to save their lives.

You were warm and too drunk to stop either of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As alqays tell me if I missed something or the wording is weird somewhere.


	12. Cookies and Sketches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some quality time with the other cassettes. You make cookies and watch some birds sleep.  
A good time all around.
> 
> Oh, the others are there too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So i planned for this to be out before January but we can all see how that turned out.
> 
> If you guys have a situation you want to see please tell me. I'd love to add in more interactions before I get to the end of the story. I have a few ideas for it but if like to hear what you guys have in mind!
> 
> As always no beta. Just me. Point out any mistakes and I'll have the corrwcted as soon as i can.

Time passed slowly as the cold weather set in but coming home to your new friend helped cheer you up. Seasonal depression and all that. Something about the cold weather and everything dying making a majority of people sadder during the winter months. 

Part of overcoming it was knowing it was happening.

The gentle snow flurries you had the delight of seeing that morning had been replaced by a monster of snow. It looked like one of the big versions of your metal friends took a bucket of snow and upended it onto your yard. Which caused you to call into work because you weren't getting stuck somewhere between your house and the city.

That's just asking to get lost, stuck, then dead.

You love the boys but you can just imagine them laughing at how stupid you were to die because of a little cold.

Luckily your new boss is a sweetheart and he's let you go ahead and stay home. He said he'd rather you be at home safe than trying to make it through the snow.

So that's exactly what you're doing. You have convinced Ravage to help you and Ratbat make cookies. The twins are watching some dramatized judge show before they have to get back to base. They said they had a few minutes to spare. That was an hour ago.

Anyway you wouldn't of thought the twins would find anything like that interesting in the least but you've been proven wrong. Frenzy said he likes it " 'Cause it's peak stupid human humor."

Sadly you have to agree.

Ravage pressed the cookie cutter down with his forepaw, locks eyes with you, then uses his mouth to pick it back up. Your mouth pops open to scold him but you know he's teasing you. He can't drool so what would he get on the cookie anyway? Recycled air? Weird robot mouth lubricant? More questions you'll never have answers to.

You make a 'tsk tsk' noise at him anyway. You spot Ratbat dip the little clasper bit on his wing into the cookie dough. 

"Honey, don't do that." You reach for him but he pops it into his mouth before you even reach across the table. Your lips pull thin as you watch him. Something in his mouth grinds through the dough.

This is not the first time he's had cookie dough.

This will most likely not be the last time he has cookie dough.

Ravage side steps as Ratbat makes a horrendous retching noise. Then the big cat goes right back to making star shaped cookies. Avoiding eye contact as best he can. You don't blame him.

All you can think is 'Not on the counter, please.'

Ratbat wobbles to the edge of the table a regurgitates the slightly pinked dough onto your floor. You grab some napkins and clean his mess up.

Ratbat hiccups at you when you get back from tossing the napkins. His eyes are doing that glossy thing where he's about to start leaking pink all over your kitchen. You scoop him up and hold him to your chest before it can start.

"You know he plots this, right." Ravage chimes in from behind you. You turn to watch him pull the cookie cutter up again. He drops it to the table before looking at you.

Ratbat squeaks in offense. You cut him off before he can start yelling. "I know but he's cute when he does it so I guess I don't really mind it." You shrug.

His head dips to the side and his vents cycle. Your almost positive he's sighing at you. "You're encouraging him."

Ratbat huffs and you hear his metal teeth clack against each other. You cut him off again. "I guess. I'd rather keep doing it than ignore him though…"

There's a silence that follows that. 

"I mean," You pet his tiny forehead and adjust your grip on him. "I figure he doesn't get much positive attention at base so I might as well give him what he wants. It's just a bonus that he's so cute."

The bat looks at you with what your sure is a look that would say he's upset that you've found him out and that he's upset it was that easy. You give him a soft smile and kiss his nose. 

"Hopeless, just like the rest of your species." Ravage looks away. He eyes the cookie cutters as you set Ratbat back onto the counter. You have a sliver of an idea as to what he's thinking but he's not a real cat so it's unlikely.bHe looks back at you then knocks the piece of metal to the ground.

A beat of silence passes before you start giggling.

You pick it up and set it back on the counter. The smile on your face looks ridiculous but you can't help it. "Resorting to making messes, huh?"

His ears do this weird swiffle thing as he holds a paw to his chest. "Would I?" It sounds like a real question but you know for a fact he's shitting you.

You force a pout to your lips but the upset squeak Ratbat makes breaks it. You lean forward and kiss Ravage on the nose as well. It has a slightly different texture than the rest of the metal you've felt. Not like your about to start asking questions though.

"Mission accomplished." He says in that rich baritone of his.

You laugh again; Short and sweet. "Don't make it a habit. Just because I let Ratbat be baby doesn't mean you get to."

"I'll keep that in mind." He says as he slinks off with a weird sway to his rocket-mounted hips.

Ratbat looks scandalized where he sits.

\----- 

The boys had eventually left. Probably got a comm telling them that if they didn't get back to base soon they would an scrap metal. Ravage got called to do something for his boss/dad-bot and Ratbat apparently was trying to miss out on some kind of punishment duty. He said something about monitoring. Which honestly sounded awful.

To replace them your two favorite bird shaped killing machines had appeared only minutes later. A little like they were waiting.

You couldn't blame them.

The others usually meant it was going to be loud and if you knew one thing it was that these two liked to spend their down time either watching crappy house flipping shows or napping.

Like old men.

This time you helped them reorganize your living room. The couch ended up as a sort of impromptu fort. With your kitchen table pushed up behind it and a blanket wrapped half over everything to make it look more… Cave like.

They had both just powered down when you had an idea.

You went to your room and got your old sketchbook. A quick flip through the pages revealed everything you had tried to copy when you were younger. Mostly light real life sketches and stick figures filled its pages. You took an old pencil off your desk and went back to the livingroom.

The light was low but that didn't deter you. You made yourself as comfortable as you could on the floor then went to sketching. Trying to remember what your old teacher said about vanishing points and perspective. 

The way the were nestled around each other didn't actually make it any easier to sketch them but you tried. The soft flowing lines of the fabric stood out from their hard metal bodies. Even more so in your art.

You decided to maybe add the illusion of shadow when one of them spoke up. Making you jump and toss your pencils away from you.

"What are you doing human?" You looked up to see Laserbeak giving you the squinty eye.

"You had the TV and I didn't want to chance it just in case you woke up so..." You end flatly with a little shrug. " broke out my old sketchbook."

She synthesizes a weird humming noise at you before her wings ruffle and she gets comfortable again. You grab the runaway pencil and look up to see she's still squinting but it doesn't seem as malicious. You go back to adding little bits of shading to the metal.

"Show me." 

You jump again but keep your grip. You look up and she looks more tired than anything. "I'm not done with it yet." You haven't done any art in a long time. Not to mention tried any kind of still life.

"Art is constantly evolving and artists are constantly growing. If you work on a piece and strive for only perfection you'll be disappointed and hate it in the end. Now show me but it better be good." 

That would be some pretty solid advice if she didn't insist your art of her be good enough when you aren't sure what kind of art she even considers good enough. You sigh and show her you sketch regardless of how you feel about it.

She's looking it over for a moment before her neck extends and she goes in to really look at it.

You don't know why but your starting to sweat. The palms of your hands get clammy and you can feel a need to get fidgety and weird. She's just a semi-unpleasant bird lady scrutinizing a sketch you made of her while she was asleep.

No need to be nervous.

"I like it. You can continue." With that her neck goes back to its original stubby length and she rests her beak against Buzzsaw's side.

You let out a breath and set the book back down in front of you. A bit of debating and you figure you should actually finish the sketch. Laserbeak might be annoyed if you leave it as is and you'd rather avoid that.

After their power nap she checks it over again and this time she asks to keep it. 

How could you say no?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im so sorry that Ratbat said exactly 0 words.  
I was having fun picturing him looking back and forth while gasping as they low-key made fun of him.
> 
> I am...might of had an idea where the twina helped ice the cookies but scrapped it because it was already wordy AND they had the last chapter.
> 
> So they just atopped by to waste time and piss Soundwave and or Megatron off.


	13. Snowmen and Clue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's exactly what the chapter title says. You get cold then play boardgames.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you see any obvious errors please tell me. This is not beta read. It's 100% free range fic so it has no reader to double check.

It was childish. It was dumb and you were going to end up froze in your front yard or incredibly sick. That wouldn't dissuade you though. Your mind was made up. It was the perfect weather for it anyway.

So, this afternoon you found yourself outside, decked out in your thickest winter jacket, and trying to make a snowman.

Your first try was with a medium sized one. It ended up shorter than you wanted but that was fine. It was a start.

You looked over your work with a critical eye.

You could make a snowman family.

Suddenly taken with inspiration you started packing snow together and immediately found that trying to make snow more angular was a tad beyond your skills. You pushed on anyway.

You had brought an old scarf and a worn out hat with you. Puzzling over that you change up the first snowman until the hat will fit and it looks slightly more like you. You smile then add the cloths. Not like the real you needs them any more.

The crunch of heavy feet on snow alerts you to them this time. No customary scares this time.

"Hey, babe, what are you doing?" You look up to see the twins over your snowmen.

"Playing in the snow and probably getting a cold from it. How about you?" You smile as they look at your frozen art.

Rumble catches onto what you said after a moment. "Wait, your getting sick?"

"Well not really but I could."

"Then why are you out here? We cant have our femme getting sick!" He takes the snow out of your hands or he at least tries. The force he grabbed it with was just too much for it and it turned to chunky powder.

"Dude!" You huff at him.

"Get that outta here." He shakes his hands off while Frenzy starts laughing at him from the other side of the snowmen.

"I worked hard on that. I have to finish this before I go inside anyway. What would the other's think if I didn't finish." You start collecting snow again and push it the the middle snowman side.

Frenzy smacks his brother, still smiling. "What are you even doing"

"If you must know I am making a snow family." You smooth out the new mounds of snow the best you can before adding. "It's our family."

The twins are silent a moment; looking over the snow people with a curious gaze. Frenzy starts collecting more snow. "Guess we might as well help then!"

He starts trying to even out the snowman he has decided will be him. You smile and adjust your hat.

You at two small beads to what is supposed to be Ratbat clinging to the side of SnowYou. It's a little small to be Ratbat but that's fine. SnowYou is smaller than actual you anyway. As a final detail to him you sculpt out his eats a bit just to make them more bat-like.

The boys have both somehow made their snowmen buff but also boxy.

You sigh then start working on your best attempt at a cat made of snow. Sitting with his tail beside him is the best course of action so you start mounting snow up. You might even get more festive and give him a twig for a tail. That would be hilarious.

You hear thrusters in the distance and take a deep breath. Preparing for the birds to insult your whole snow family.

"What is that hideous thing?" Buzzsaw squawks at you from where he landed.There it is. The first insult of the day. Laserbeak lands soon after. It's best to assume she's silent in horror.

"Nice to see you too, hun." You try to add definition to Ravage's face. Make him look more like a cat and less like his face is a poorly formed blob.

"Human, are you glitched?" That actually catches you off guard. You turn around to see both birds watching you. Buzzsaw motions towards you with his head. "Your shaking."

A quick glance at your hands shows that, yes, you are shivering. You smile and shrug at them. "It's the cold." Without anymore of an answer you turn back to work. You have to finish that cute nose after all.

Frenzy pops around SnowRavage to look at you. He frowns deeper than you think you've ever seen him frown. "You gotta go inside."

"What? No." You huff at him. 

"Your going to freeze to death."

Now he's really exaggerating. "Honey, I'm not going to die. Let me finish what I started then I'll head inside." 

He watches you for a minute more before crunching his way back to what he was doing.

Good. You move to the left side of snowRavage and start making a snowBuzzsaw.

"I'm assuming that's me?" A deep voice cuts through the brief silence.

Ravage made his way over to you from his place just outside of what you consider your backyard. Smiling, you nod.

"I'm making a family." You state with pride.

"They are very nice but I must agree with Frenzy on thai one. The temperature is scheduled to drop in the coming hour." He nudges you with his frosty muzzle.

"Not you too? I'm not done." 

"Come now. We can't have you getting sick. Ratbat will think your dying of some kind of deadly human disease." Ravage says as you add details to Buzzsaw's snowy face. He looks adequately pissy.

"Primus, he'd be unconsolable." Laserbeak pitches in as she starts crowding behind you. She actually generates more heat than you would think and the air around her is slightly warmed. Inviting but not inviting enough.

"I still have to make Laserbeak!" You protest and shift over to a clear area. You collect a good amount of snow and start trying to form her body but your hands are frozen and bending your fingers has become a real struggle.

Ravage nudges you away from the mound of snow that was soon to be Laserbeak. "Go on."

You pout at him. You haven't played in the snow in forever. This isn't fair.

Behind Ravage you see Rumble toss a fistful of snow at Frenzy. He grumbles then pushes Rumble over. That gives you a better idea than going in and warming up.

You grab a handful of snow while Ravage squints. Once the ball is compact enough you throw it right at the back of the red brother's head. It hits with a satisfying soggy crunch noise.

"Snowball fight!" You declare through clattering teeth."

It takes about 3 seconds but as soon as Frenzy realizes what happened. He lets out a ground shaking yell. Ravage's ears flatten and he looks behind him at Frenzy. He gets a face full of dirty snow.

You start giggling as you make another snowball.

By the time the temperature actually drops your backyard is a mess of snow and half constructed snow walls. Ratbat had shown up in the middle of the chaos and got shot right out of the sky by Laserbeak. How she throws snowballs is beyond your comprehension.

The biggest loser happened to be Buzzsaw. The twins had realized that the snow under them was melting because of the excess heat and their moving was stirring up the dirt.

So, being the assholes they are, they had grabbed Buzz under the wings and tossed him into the shallow mud.

His screech of rage had ended the fun.

It might have also ended because you realized your legs had frozen to the ground.

\---

After a quick shower you changed into a set of thick pajama pants and a new sweater. The house doesn't hold heat that well and even if it did it's an ideal day for plush comfy cloths. Who would pass on that?

You managed to coax Buzzsaw into the bathroom and then actually into your tub. It was the threat of having to stay outside that actually got him to hop in. He was just to wet and gritty for you to let him into your house. Let alone onto your couch. You shut and locked the door so none of the others could poke fun at him.

You run the water hot but start adding cool water so you can actually splash him.

"I'm sorry the boys threw you into the mud." You start working a rag over his lower half. Rubbing the dirty and grit out of his seams instead of into them.

"I detest them." Is all he says. 

You eventually get all you can clean before changing out the water. Trying to lighten the mood you splash him a little.

He huffs at you and you think you've put him in a worse mood until he splashes you back. He gets your sleeves wet but that's okay. A fair price to pay to shear him up.

After you towel him off you both join the others in the livingroom.

Someone has pulled out your bored games.

"Did you guys get bored? I still have a TV." You sit on the couch and watch them look through the boxes. If they start mixing pieces you aren't sure you'll have the effort left to fix them today.

"We wanted to okay something and we know humans have games." Rumble gestures to the box of Monopoly he's holding.

"Let's play something then." You suggest.

They are all surprisingly excited.

You settle on Clue. A good middle ground and you honestly don't want to see what would happen if you got them to play Monopoly. You can just see one of the twins loosing their minds and causing some real damage.

\---

After a quick run down of the rules, and an agreement on which rules could be changed or added, you all get set around the coffee table.

Ratbat had called out that he was going to play as Miss Scarlet. It's obvious he wants to go first. You planned to just let him have it until Rumble said Frenzy should get to play her because he's red.

Luckily the fight ended quickly when Ravage rild Ratbat he couldn't airway play Scarlet and that if he kept going we'd never get to play and have wasted an evening at your house.

Which was surprisingly sweet then made sweeter by everyone shutting up and picking their pieces.

Buzzsaw opted out of the game in exchange for laying his head on your lap. You tossed a blanket over his wings and hoped he wasn't too disturbed by the game.

\---

If you never played Clue again you'd live a happy life. Ravage got surprisingly into it. It wasn't a surprise that he was good at it either.

He won several rounds but then the twins started cheating. It was a miracle it took them that long. They won a few times and with a bit of nagging got Buzzsaw to give up his spot and replace Ravage as Professor Plum.

Buzzsaw was shit at Clue.

Ratbat started fighting about cards and probability. It didn't help that Laserbeak lied about the cards she had. Her excuse was that she wanted to be the wildcard. Add chaos (llike you needed that) to the game. Frenzy was pissed he hadn't thought of that.

At the end of the night Ratbat bit Rumble's hand. He wouldn't explain why but Rumble didn't care. Rumble simply wanted to smash. Before he could throw Ratbat into the table you mercifully kicked them all out.

You could see the anxiety coming off the group. Yes, they had been loud and almost broke your table but it was all in good fun. You smiled at them and told them to have a food night because you were going right to bed.

If they wanted to get rowdy they could do it outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you guys have been enjoying the lack of action. I'm not good at writing it so every thing has been slice of life.
> 
> Little known fact but I wanted to put Soundwave in this chapter. Sadely didn't work out.
> 
> He might make an appearance next chapter but him showing up will probably mark the end of the story so   
-shrug-
> 
> Who know.
> 
> Anyway if you would like to see a specific interaction please tell me!


	14. Holidays are Overrated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The year is moving by fast. Valentines day and St. Patrick's day are upon you.  
Luckily you have some important friends to spend your time with.  
Even when they end up ruining your day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally my notes said "the twins ruin your night"  
I'm not sure how ruined it is though.  
I had an idea to make it really bad. As a throw back to when there was more hostility in the house but I had a different thought come to me.  
So I went with that one because it was just too amusing to pass up.
> 
> Sorry for the long wait. Thinks have been crazy at work!  
Hope you all enjoy this as much as i enjoyed making it.
> 
> Not beta read.  
If you have suggestions or ideas message me!

When you work retail long enough you forget when holidays really are. The preparation and stuff in the stores make it feel like it lasts weeks instead of just one day.

Which would explain why, a few days before Valentine's, when your coworker gave you some chocolate you were beyond confused.

Valentine's day, which you forgot was an actual holiday and not purely a pink and red colored cash grab, was right there. You thanked her with a smile while trying to play off that you totally forgot that it was a thing. She let you have it and both of you continued on with work.

Once you got home you opened the red plastic heart. The inside of the lid had a diagram for the flavors of the chocolates depending on where they were placed in the box. Very helpful for avoiding those bad ones that you'd end up throwing away or forcing yourself to eat as to not waste food. Time would tell if you really decided you needed that sugar or not.

You hear one of the cassettes knock on the door. Instead of answering it you picked one of the plain chocolates and popped it into your mouth. They'll let themselves in anyway. Knocking is just a polite way of letting you know they care for your privacy...kinda.

It's the blue menace himself followed by both birds.

"Hey, honey, what's up?" You greet from the coffee table.

"You wouldn't believe what stupid slag Frenzy got into." The grin that he's wearing tells you all you need to know. You can also tell Rumble was part of it but managed to worm his way out of whatever punishment Frenzy got.

"Did you both sneak into somewhere you shouldn't have been then break something important that you weren't supposed to touch?" You blinked. "Then you said you tried to stop him and he got offended and pledged to offline you when he gets out of timeout?"

There's a heavy silence that follows after you finish. You glance over at them to see what's caused their sudden and awkward hush.

Rumble's mouth is open slightly and the birds are watching you.

"Well not exactly." He says as both the birds start cackling.

Rumble eyes them with absolute hate. "We were supposed to be there and we were supposed to get the item." He crosses his arms over his stupidly burly metal chest.

You stare at him for a moment with your mouth in a gentle 'oh' shape. "I was kidding actually but I guess I know you guys better than I thought." You start giggling at the offended look he gives you.

Your not sure if this prolonged eye contact is really working because you start to feel weird about it. You break off and grab another piece of chocolate.

Buzzsaw hops onto the couch next to you. "Your eating sweets again? I thought that was a Halloween treat?" He eyes the sweet as you take a small bite of it.

"Well yeah but also no. You could say that humans use any excuse to eat sweets. It's not exactly healthy but the candy industry will use any excuse to sell more." You explain with a shrug.

"You plan to be unhealthy?" Laserbeak asks, still on the floor.

Your face flushes. "That wasn't the plan… I don't think I eat enough sweets to be considered unhealthy anyway!"

"Then why are you eating them?"

"I got them from a friend at work. It's close to Valentine's day and you give sweets or flowers to people you like. It would have been rude to reject them." Today is not the day to give them a crash course in human holidays. Your simple explanation will have to be enough.

The heavy thunk of Rumble's fat feet on the floor catch your attention as he rushes out of your house. He actually closes the door behind him which is incredibly surprising.

After a beat of silence you look at the birds. "What was that about?"

"Maybe the idiot forgot something?" Buzzsaw does his weird bird laugh while Laserbeak does her best impression of rolling her eyes.

\----

Not too long later, after Laserbeak had convinced you to watch one of the cheese early Valentine's Day rom-coms, you hear the front door open and heavy feet trot across old wood.

You peak behind you even though the lights being off make it difficult to see.

"Happy human Valentine's day and whatever!" And with that Rumble dumbs at least a dozen more boxes of chocolate on you from above.

The tide wave of goodies knicks you off the couch and onto the pillow confused coffee table. You smack the boxes away. So confused you don't even yell at him

"Rumble we were watching a movie!" You can't tell if Laserbeak is on your side or her own. She tips at his hand regardless. 

Instead of swatting her away he flicks his wrist to avoid her sharp beak then takes a step back.

Which causes you to smile.

Which is perceived incorrectly by the blue menace. He grins down at you and you can feel the pride radiating off of him. " Heart shaped holiday boxes of chocolate just for you."

Attention brought back to the problem at hand you pick up one of the boxes. It's actually decent chocolate. Not a cheap box of shit that tastes low-ley like plastic.

"I want to ask where you got this but I know the answer wont make me happy." He nods along to your words; still grinning.

"I get to be your sweet heart now right? I won your favor?" 

"Rumble, love, what are you talking about?" You move the boxes into a pile on the table so you can get back onto the couch. You look back at him with genuine confusion.

That seems to knock him off whatever high horse he had climbed onto. "You said today was about gifts or whatever. The signs I saw said 'make her your sweet heart' and advertised candy and flowers. You said you give that stuff to people you like?" As you prattled on he gradually sounded more unsure. Be ended with his hands on the back of the couch and a small frown on his face.

"Did i get it wrong?"

"No, that's what they advertise and," you pause thinking of words. It was sweet but you weren't sure you'd ever be able to eat this much stolen chocolate. "The sweets are appreciated but you don't have to earn anything. You could have asked."

He looks unsure. "Asked what?"

You can hear Laserbeak mumble 'You idiot' under her breath. She knocks open one of the boxes and grabs a chocolate with the very tip of her beak before she turns to you. "Would you accept me as your Valentine?" She says it with a little bird like tilt to her head. It's super cute and you smile at her.

"Sure," She presses the chocolate to your lips and you take it on automatic. You blink and flush to the tips of your ears. You cover your face because that was really tense and you shouldn't be this embarrassed over a metal bird feeding you chocolate.

"That's cheating!" With a clang Rumble has her off the couch and looks like he might disassemble her right in the middle of your living room.

"Stop that! You can ask me out next year!" You grab his arm and just barely manage to not get decapitated by one of Laserbeak's wings.

He droos her and tames your hand in the same action. "That's a promise right?" 

"Yes, of course. You and me."

Laserbeak huffs before turning back to the movie.

\----

As a little reward for a job well done, getting through the first month's holidays without any casualties at work, you bought yourself some wine for St. Patrick's day. You managed to get the next day off and plans to celebrate. 

That celebration was in the form of a slumber party with your favorite space based friends. You supplied your own food and they would supply their own. Very b.y.o.b.

Once you made it home you rushed to get dressed in something more casual. Ratbat caught you on your way and hung onto your back.

The living room was already furiously rearranged for peak bird comfort. You changed but left your green socks on. You claimed the middle seat on the couch. The best seat while it lasted.

A few glasses in and your starting to get worried.

"The twins might be late. Frenzy is still hung up on not getting you a gift last month."

"I told him it was fine. I wasn't mad at him or anything." You rub his ears after he moves to your lap.

"It's about Rumble mostly. The glitch is upset he got bested. "Ratbat let out a long withering sigh. "He's probably trying to get you something impressive but not too flashy so you don't make him return it."

You remember how for the next week after Valentine's day how each of the cassettes brought you gifts. Ravage brought you a lovely bouquet of flowers and ratbat had stolen you some, for once in his life, simple but obviously expensive earrings. You kept them purely because he said they came from overseas and they would be hard to return and probably couldn't be traced back to you.

You prefered the flowers.

Buzzsaw, who had slipped into the deepest sleep you had ever witnessed the night of l  
Valentine's day, was embarrassed and brought you a nice blanket. It was soft and matched your couch. He also gave you a bag of mints that weren't in the season of Valentine's but are a needed break from chocolate.

You wonder what Frenzy will try to get you to beat Rumble. Hopefully he won't follow in Ratbat's example and steal you expensive jewelry.

You tuck the blanket around you and Ratbat; waiting for the boys to show up and maybe ruin your day.

There's a metallic clash outside that causes you to jump.

Speak of the devil and all that.

You turn around in time to see Frenzy wrestle the door open with Rumble hot on his ass. They both look livid. Frenzy's mouth opens but before he can get anything out Rumble tackles him to the ground. The shockwave that ripples across your floor has you surprised that your floor hasn't cracked open and swallowed then whole.

"Stop that! We talked about this!" You hurry off the couch and run to them.

They stop hitting each other out of fear of swatting you by accident. They freeze; Frenzy on his back with one of his hands pushing Rumble away by his face.

"Rumble ruined my gift!"

"I told you she wouldn't like it. I didn't ruin anything you baby!"

Frenzy looks like he's about to commit fratricide right in the middle of your house. Not a mess you would have been ready for.

"I feel like I would have been a good judge of if I liked something." You put your hands on your hips. 

"I got you a dress. It was nice but this idiot said you'd hate it." He shoves the blue twin off of him so he can get to his feet.

"It wasn't a good dress!"

Ratbat chooses that time to pitch in with his very important opinions. "Neither of you know anything about human fashion! You should have brought it and then we could decide if it was really that ugly!"

You don't mention when he tried helping you pick clothing.

Rumble's cheeks tint pink. "Wasn't ugly."

That seems to set the other two off.

You watch them bicker back and forth about this hypothetical dress. Frenzy insists it was great which Rumble confirms it was nice but you still would have hated it and maybe kicked them all out for good. You can't make heads or tails of it.

You clear your throat; which manages to cut off the debate. They look at you with expectant eyes. "Frenzy, what did the dress look like? Just Frenzy. I want to know why you liked it and thought I'd like it."

The others close their mouths. Ratbat looks expectantly at Frenzy and for some reason Rumble looks like he wants to leave.

"It had these cute lacy sleeves," He starts with a huge grin on his face. " and like went in a little at the waist?"

He moves his hands in a very distinct hourglass motion which has your cheeks turning slightly pink. "Is that all?"

"Pff, 'course not. It had these little bows on the shoulders too. They were cute like you too and it went about." He waves his hand at just above mid thigh. "I don't know if that's too short or whatever."

It doesn't sound too bad so far. You nod for him to continue.

"It was this pale pink color? Maybe a white-ish like a pearl. You know those little beads that you find in the ocean?" Rumble is no longer even looking at the group but the description isn't so bad. The color leaves something to be desired.

You frown at him.

"It was see through!" Rumble finally breaks his silence.

"It was what?"

Rumble looks absolutely furious. "It was see through. I've looked at them before and you wouldn't have liked it as a present!"

Oh

Oh no!

All you hear is the blood rushing through your ears. He got you a negligee. Out of anything he could have gotten yo- Rumble knows what a negligee is! You stumble back to lean on the couch.

"That would have been nice of you...but hm...Frenzy that's not... it isn't inappropriate." You stumble over your words harder than you ever have.

What an unexpected turn your night took.


	15. An Explanation of Sorts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You teach the cassettes a littlenmore about humans. Specifically a little more about some of our weird holidays.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this chapter horribly short? Yes.  
I wanted to post something for you guys.
> 
> I know its short and there isn't a whole lot of interesting things happening in this chapter. It's mostly just feel good.
> 
> I hope it cheers you guys up a little in these trying tines!

You felt like you were behind schedule; even though you know technically you're the only one holding yourself to complete certain garden activities on or before specific dates.

You huff as you hand till your soil. The best you could do was break up the dirt that you had covered and add in the compost you had started on earlier. It was best to add as much extra nutrients as you could. It wasn't like your livelihood was going to depend on your produce but you had moved out here with the goal of getting away from people and more in tune with nature.

So that's what you were trying to do.

You had made pretty good work for how late you got started today. You dust your hands off on your old blue jeans shorts before going to the back patio area.

Ratbat watched you from his spot on your bench next to Laserbeak. The pink menace squeaked at you.

Your Four o'clocks had recovered nicely. Filling in the bald spot that Ratbat had caused when you first met. You sit down next to Laserbeak with a smile. That felt like a different life.

Rather climbs around you to sit on your lap. The front of your shirt still clasped tight. "You're so dirty!" He huffs and pulls on the front a little. Like he was planning on pulling it off you just so you wouldn't be as dirty.

"Hun, don't rip my shirt. It's the best work shirt I own." You lean forward to lessen the pulling on not only the worn design on the front but also the way the collar dug into the back of your neck.

He lets go and in his huff he over balances and ends up in the dirt himself. He squirms around sounding as helpless as he can. You roll your eyes and put him back in your lap. A quick glance at your bench buddy shows her doing her best to roll her eyes at you.

"On a different topic," she starts with an already exhausted air about her. "I've been meaning to ask you about your human holidays."

That's a little left field. "Okay. Shoot." Is the best you can manage.

"What are some important ones you celebrate? The twins were both fighting and when the next time Frenzy could try to 'gift you again' but they didn't have a date." 

"Oh, I thought you were going to have me try to give you like...holiday history or something. Just telling you the main ones is much easier." You start dusting Ratbat off with your shirt.

You get the oddest impression she's smirking at you. "I'd also like that. If you'd be so kind."

You groan.

\-----

You and your guests end up moving inside to escape the sudden sprinkles.

Not because water caused them to rust but because if they got too wet you wouldn't let them into your house. Atleast without properly drying off first. 

Changed into pajamas because you had no other plans for the day; you joined them on the couch. Wrapped snugly in blankets you put on some random reality TV for background noise.

"So now you know what holidays I celebrate." You end weakly after thinking of which holidays you actually put effort into.

"Interesting. I wasn't aware humans had a specific day to just drink wine?" She tilts her head playfully.

You blush. "It's not a real holiday and it's more of an inside joke than anything. My friends just picked it up once most of our group were old enough to drink. It was just for the laughs."

She hums in reply with a friendly glint to her deep red eyes. "I guess I'll bring you wine and we can celebrate." You aren't sure if that's a joke or not but you agree with a laugh. 

"Back on track now. Tell me why people even celebrate Valentine's day? You seem to dislike the blatant social demand to buy expensive gifts and cheap chocolate?"

Ratbat had stopped his quest for ultimate comfort in the blanket. Finally satisfied with his multi-layered burrito blanket situation.

"I don't usually celebrate that one but you guys seemed excited so I just went with it. " she nods along with your explanation. "Saint Valentine was the patron saint of love and beekeeping. He was known for marrying couples when there was a law forbidding it. I think he was decapitated for not giving up his faith."

"I feel like he should have stuck with beekeeping. It would have kept him out of trouble." 

You giggle at her dry reply. "That's harsh but I see what you mean. In the modern day we've kind of butchered what i think his original message was but that's just how it goes."

"It is. Now, tell me about why people are forced to wear green and get wasted in early March."

You can't help the cackle that leaves you.

\---

The sun is just sinking below the horizon and the clouds are a lovely pink color. You had convinced the twins to sit outside with you to see the last of the light.

"I will say Earth has much better light shows than Cybertron." Rumble says out of the blue.

You look over at him and blink. "You didn't get sunsets?" Which sounds like a weird thing for a planet to just not have. Did their planet go from light to just plain dark in a few minutes? That sounds boring and the idea of it makes me strangely sad.

"Nope." He somehow manages to pop and you might never know how he manages it.

Frenzy offers you a bit more of an explanation, surprisingly. "It has something to do with our planet's atmosphere. It doesn't catch the light or something so we don't get the," he waves a hand at the sky. "Colors you get."

You nod at that. It sounds realistic to you but still kind of sad. You wouldn't want to live on Cybertron. Though you probably couldn't so you were safe.

"You were really paying attention when Screamer was spouting off his dumb science words, huh?" Rumble playfully kicks Frenzy in the side with a loud clang.

Frenzy swats back at him without the playfulness. "I was not!"

Being offended over learning something. Only the twins could do it.

They wrestle around as the light fades. You look at them as they roll around in the dirt. Better now than just run off on them. "Hey, boys, I might go to another party my friend is having."

They look at you with bright eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always the only beta reading this got was me double checking.  
If you see a problem please tell me!

**Author's Note:**

> Im hoping to post regularly but I dont have a schedule for myself so you get what you get when I can.  
Also Rumble is blue, Frenzy is red, and im planning to make Laserbeak a girl.  
If you have any problems with that tell me but i like Laserbeak being female.


End file.
